I could listen to this story over and over again, now on the book 2!!!!! I remember the first time my girls listened to it, they are now so hooked, and love the series as much as I do🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌹🌹🌹🍀❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️. Your could feel the chemistry with phoebes and Dan right from the start of the story, Molly and Phoebes story was so wonderful, and touching. Just an amazing story line.

I normally like Phillip's books. They are fun light reads with a lot of wit and humor. This one had SO MANY sex scenes and they got more hokey as they went. The dialogue was over the top with way too many descriptive words. I wouldn't even be considered a feminist and I was offended by the powerful woman using sex to get her way. And don't even get me started about the rape victim that as soon as she finds the right guy, no longer has any issues.

Excellent narration. Top of the trees! Hats off to Anna Fields. Engrossing story with more finely crafted characters than generally seen in the romance genre. The characterization of Phoebe and Dan is superb. They held my interest despite the sometimes predictable storyline and the totally transparent villains.

Phillips portrays Phoebe as a blond bimbo, a reincarnation of Marylyn Monroe, but that's only on the surface. Inside, she's a wounded soul, vamping it up big time to cloak her soft heart, childhood scars, and sexual inhibitions. To survive, she learned to hide her keen intelligence and wise compassion. A hugely sympathetic and likeable character, Phoebe won me over. Loved her shrewd bimbo-ish business dealings, and her perceptive insight regarding Ron and Keen, especially. That business meeting with Keen was hilarious! Loved every scene with Phoebe and Dan. Great couple!

Phillips portrays Coach Dan Calebow as a reformed bad boy looking for a good woman to raise his babies. He's intensely attracted to Phoebe but cannot see her singing lullabies, baking cookies, or changing diapers, so he resists as best he can. He is highly reminiscent of Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with Phoebe likened several times to Newman's sexpot Elizabeth Taylor (several references to Pulitzer-winning writer, Tennesee Williams). Like Phoebe, Dan has his childhood scars, too, from abusive partents in backwoods Alabama. His gradual realization of where his heart lies felt totally credible. His characterization as a hard-driving man's man is solid. The author also illustrates his soft spot for kids (and a youthful, unhappy Molly, age 15).

What made the experience of listening to It Had to Be You the most enjoyable?

The narrator is fantastic, my all time favorite. She captures all of the characters perfectly.

Which scene was your favorite?

The very first opening scene with Poo and the funeral! No one does an opening scene like SEP.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this one many years ago, but as it's football season, I just kept thinking about this book. I am not a re-reader, I never come back to even my favorite books. But I had to download it and listen again. Just gets better and better. Phoebe is hilarious and real, Dan also real and damn sexy!

I love the way she develops her characters. This is an older book, so the men speak to women in very annoying terms...but that can be forgiven. There is not quite as much humor in this book as some of her later titles, but the drama is compelling.

What other book might you compare It Had to Be You to and why?

It compares to her other titles because of the character development and fast paced stories.

Have you listened to any of Anna Fields’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, she does a good job of developing different voices for different characters.

If you could take any character from It Had to Be You out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Overall, I thought this was a charming love story. Susan Elizabeth Philips has made the chemistry between Dan & Phoebe palpable without making the story solely (or even mostly) about sex. The best thing about their love story is that they both have issues that the other person helps them work through. The dialogue between the various characters (Dan, Phoebe, a teenage sister, & numerous football players) is witty, funny, & playful. And while this is obviously a romance novel, there are enough sub-plots occurring so that this book should be able to easily keep your interest. Anna Fields does a great job as narrator. Sometimes the voices she adopts for minor characters can be a bit awkward, but that's rare and understandable.

However, I do have to issue one word of caution. A couple of the scenes between Dan & Phoebe can be a bit disturbing. Misunderstandings, miscommunication, & baggage from past relationships lead to situations where the author--in my opinion--flirts a little to closely with rape. Based on the storyline, you can tell Phillips did this on purpose, but it's still a bit much.

A book that has a 4.5 star rating should be much better than this one. The author goes to great lengths to give the main character a horrible past with PTSD, and then it's "all better" from meeting the right guy? Nope.